How to Create a Homeschool Curriculum

1) Traditional 5 Day Homeschool Schedule

It is not uncommon for homeschoolers to follow the same schedule as the traditional schooling system. A child may study five academic subjects every day for five days a week. This schedule can especially help newer homeschooling students to become accustomed to the homeschool lifestyle as it brings feelings of familiarity. This kind of schedule also allows for plenty of pre-planning from a formal curriculum, making the workload a little easier to design.

2) 4 Day Homeschool Schedule

Other families may find it easier to construct a Monday through Thursday work week, leaving Friday as an optional free day. Typically the fifth day is turned in a field trip where either a family, homeschool group, or possibly a co-op get together and take an educational trip. Field trips may not take place every Friday as that is the beauty of homeschooling - you have options. Fridays can be left open for appointments, trips to the library, errands, or weekend trips. There is also plenty of exemplary 4 day homeschool material available to model your schedule after.

3) 1 Subject A Day Homeschool Schedule

It is no secret that each student learns at his or her own pace. Thus, some families decide to divide their subjects into a day by day learning schedule - one subject is addressed each day of the week. For instance, Mondays focus on Math, Tuesdays focus on English, Wednesdays focus on Science, Thursdays focus on history, while Fridays are left open for electives. Electives can range from foreign language to art or even music. Each family has their own order of weekly subjects but the main idea is to dedicate each day to one subject and one subject alone to be discussed thoroughly and gain a deeper understanding.

4) 1 Subject A Day + Homeschool Schedule

This special type of homeschool schedule basically follows the one subject a day rule with the exception of an additional subject or skill the child studies everyday for a shorter amount of time. The '+' can stand for memory work, reading, math practice, or even language study at the end of every school day. For example, Mondays focus on Math + additional memory work, Tuesdays focus on Language Arts + additional memory work, Wednesdays focus on Science + additional memory work and so on.
This type of weekly teaching is typically utilized for subjects that seem to be needing further practice or exploration. One subject a day schedules work best for children who do not readily switch gears every forty five minutes.

5) Co-op Homeschool Schedule

An academic co-op meets regularly on weekly schedule. It is extremely common for a co-op to typically meet once or twice a week. Some academic co-ops focus solely on enrichment learning while others are based around the usual core academics. When the co-op students are not together at a meet up they are expected to complete at home assignments and/or study for upcoming tests scheduled by the co-op teachers. Parents are responsible for keeping their children on a weekly schedule to prepare them for the upcoming co-op curriculum.

6) University Model Homeschool Schedule

The University Model of homeschooling is exactly what it sounds like, a homeschool co-op gathers together twice a week utilizing the same kind of scheduling as a common college campus. For example, your student may attend three or four different classes on Monday and Wednesdays, while they spend Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at home completing coursework and projects. Yes, this type of co-op does present a lot of scheduling challenges that traditional school presents but you will have access to expert teachers who are well versed in their fields. If you or your child are craving a more structured learning model then this is the homeschool schedule for you.

7) Shift-Work Homeschool Schedule

In some families there may be a parent who works unusual hours or a shift schedule, such as a firefighter or hospital nurse who works three days on and four days off or visa versa. While the shift-work schedule parent works, the other parent is responsible for coordinating a homeschools schedule for their student on the same correlated days. A shift-work homeschooling schedule works to maximize togetherness rather than solely focusing on academics. Or a family may purposefully schedule academics during an off shift, this way a two-parent teaching system may be put into place.

8) Extra-Curricular / Class-Drive Homeschool Schedule

Some families would rather learn through extracurriculars such as volunteering, community classes, and/or sports. For example, the nearby history museum may be putting on an 8 week archaeology class on Thursdays - thus, the subject of history is covered by this extra curricular. On Fridays the whole family takes piano lessons - thus, the subject of music is covered by this extra curricular and so on. Families who liberally utilize these types of resources work academics around these outside educational activities. Do not be alarmed, if there are holes in the child’s academic learning they are made up for at home in the typical homeschool setting. These families just prioritize their subjects differently into a personal schedule of adventurous activities. In order to run this type of homeschooling schedule you must be an excellent organizer.